Villagers were again last night bracing for a new round of Indonesian state violence in the town of Moenemani, in the gold rich Dogiyai district in Paniai, as Indonesian Brimob paramilitary police units were reportedly conducting security sweeps after a series of tragic events left three people dead and three more fighting for their lives.

Latest reports from Paniai from credible sources, priests and human rights defenders are noting that large numbers of security forces from Brimob, Army, Kopassus Special forces, BIN (National Intelligence) and Air Force Kopaska special air commandos are being drafted in to form a special task force to “secure” Moenemani. Local sources have reported that the situation remains highly tense right across Dogiyai after an unconfirmed report of a reprisal killing of an Indonesian colonist caused a major crisis meeting at the local Koramil (military command).

Brimob police opened fire on a crowd on Tuesday May 6, critically wounding three civilians, who gathered to seek accountability for two teenagers killed when a truck driver ploughed through a group of church pilgrims.

According to a detailed chronology written by local human rights investigators with the KINGMI church, around 6.40pm local time on May 5, Jhon Anouw and Yunsens Kegakoto, both aged 18 years, were returning on motorbikes from a religious residency at the local KINGMI church.

A truck with the number plate DS 9903 was “racing” through the streets, according to witness Benny Goo (as interviewed by SuaraPapua.com), and lost control, hitting the two teenagers outside the Papuan People’s Regional Assembly office, killing them instantly with massive injuries to their bodies.

As residents found the two victims and took them to a local funeral home to lie in state according to local custom, the truck driver had fled the scene and sought shelter at the Moanemani Brimob post in the town, according to witnesses.

The next morning, villagers and relatives began to gather at outside the Police station to demand that police release the driver in order to amicably settle the matter according to custom, and investigate the traffic accident. Brimob officers refused, and local villagers responded by throwing stones on the roof of the Police post.

At 10am, Brimob officers emerged from the police post, firing directly at the gathered crowd without issuing any warning to disperse. Three men were shot, Anthon Edowai, 32, Yulius Anouw, 27, and Gayus (Sepnat) Auwe, 32, and all are now in a critical condition, undergoing surgery in the Siriwini hospital in Nabire.

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All images credited JPIC/WestPapuaMedia

Tabloid Jubi confirmed the incident with Papua Police Deputy Chief Brigadier General Paulus Waterpauw, who commented. “I’ve got a preliminary report. Currently the case is being under the jurisdiction of the Paniai Police and the Kamuu Valley Police.”
Waterpauw said the situation on the ground was sometimes difficult, but urged police officers to act in accordance with the Standard Operations Procedure. “We will ensure the completion of this report,” he told Jubi.

A Kingmi priest with family in the area told West Papua Media on Wednesday night, “Dogiyai is in a very heated situation and emergency (sic). There will probably be further victims. Let us take concern of the behaviour of the security forces towards civil society in Moanemani.”

Allegation are circulating that a reprisal killing occurred on a non-Papuan civilian at 1230pm after the shooting, however several credible sources cannot independently confirm this to West Papua Media, nor if the killing is an OTK (‘unknown persons’ black operation killing). However these sources have said that alleged killing is the reason that the Special Task Force (Satgas) is being created and deployed across the district.

Mappi, Majalah Selangah – Blasius Sumaghai (23 years old), a resident of Bade village, Edera District, Mappi, Papua has been beaten by members of the Indonesian Navy. The reasons for the beating were not clear.

According to information compiled by majalahselangkah.com, Blasius
Sumaghai, the son of the late Abraham Sumaghai who was an Awyu community leader, was beaten by several Navy officers on the 26th January 2014. The beating meant that Blasius Sumaghai was unable to walk for four days. He is still in a fairly serious state of trauma.

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The incident reportedly started as Blasius Sumaghai was seated outside a kiosk on Jalan Duyumu in Bade Village. Suddenly two Navy officers who were stationed at the Bade Navy outpost showed up. They showed no initial courtesy, just directly started striking the victim on his back and chest using the butts of their rifles

After the beating, our source said that the victim was brought to the
Navy outpost on a motorbike. On arrival at the outpost, he was beaten
over his whole body using rifle butts and hosepipes. He suffered serious injuries.

It is reported that Blasius Sumaghai is not the only person to have suffered violent harrassment at the hands of the Navy. Yustinus Akabagaimu, the 27-year-old son of local teacher Xaverius Akabagaimu, has also been beaten up without any clear reason.

Yustinus is currently unable to walk as a result of the beating he
received. Several victims of harassment are unable to bring a case
against the perpetrators either because of fear or because they don’t
know to whom they should bring their complaint.

Majalah Selangkah‘s credible informant has said that that members of the security forces have often carried out beatings of young men in Bade when residents have reported that the men have done something wrong.

“But that’s what the police are for. What is Bade Police station doing?
The police are clearly tasked with maintaining law and order. The Navy’s role is to fight wars against other countries. Why should the navy take over the Police’s job right in front of their face? It’s very strange”, said the aforementioned source, sounding surprised.

The police in the Bade Police Station reportedly cannot be counted upon to maintain law and order in the area. As the community were celebrating Christmas 2009, the festive season which should be full of happiness was tainted by the murder of a young local man, Stefanus Silooy (38). He was killed by three police officers. This incident ended up with the community destroying the local police station.

In fact, a naval outpost in Bade is not strategic for national defence, because Bade is located on the shore of the Digoel River, and not on the coast. The town should really be guarded by a water-borne police unit.

So why is the Indonesian Navy present in Bade? Actually they are there to demand tribute from plywood and palm oil companies: the Korindo group in Asiki which has been operating since the nineties and PT MAM* which has recently commenced operations near Bade.

Bade is a strategic port town, because all the plywood and Crude Palm Oil produced by PT Korindo in Asiki can only be transported by one route, the Digoel River. Bade represents the entrance and exit to this river system.

[awasMIFEE / WPM note: a source (also in contact with WPM directly) in Mappi has interviewed the victim and passed on these photos of his injuries, and also a letter from Blasius Sumaghai and his family addresses to the Governor of Papua Province, reproduced below in English. WPM has translated it despite the content being very similar to the Majalah Selangkah article above, and it is worth highlighting that the family request action be taken against the perpetrator and to close down the Navy Outpost.

*The article mentions a company named PT MAM, but this is slightly erroneous. MAM is the name of the location where another Korindo subsidiary PT Dongin Prabhawa has an oil palm plantation. Bade is on the Mappi side of the Digoel river, but lies close to the border with Merauke Regency – PT Dongin Prabhawa’s plantation is also just a few kilometres away.]

Open Letter: And so the Inhumane Cruelty of Indonesian Armed Forces Against Papuans Continues…..

By SOURCE in Bade, Mappi Regency in West Papua

15 February 2014

It seems the bitterly cruel treatment of the Papuan indigenous community by the Indonesian armed forces will never come to an end. This time their cruelty has been unleashed on a young 23 year old man by the name of Blasius Sumaghai from Bade in the regency of Mappi in the far southern region of Papua. The incident involved use of brutal unrestrained violence against Blasius by two members of the Indonesian Marine Corps on 26 January 2014. Blasius is the son of a well known figure from the Awyu Tribe called Abraham Sumagahai and had done no wrong whatsoever that could have given reason for the ruthless attack by the marines. The attack on Blasius left him severely traumatized and unable to even walk for four days following the incident.

The incident occurred when Blasius was sitting in front of a kiosk (at Duyumu Road in Bade) at around 1945 hours on 26 January. Two members of the Marine Corps working at the Bade Post approached him without clear reason and started viciously beating him, striking him across his back and chest with their rifle butts. They then forced him into their vehicle and took him to their military post. They continued to strike him over his entire body with their rifle butts and a hose, leaving wounds over his entire body.

Blasius is by no means the first victim of such cruel tyranny by the Indonesian Marines in Bade. There have been numerous young people from the Bade Papuan indigenous community who had suffered seriously at the hands of the Marines in Bade but whose names cannot be mentioned due to their fears of retaliation. Many have no idea to whom they could possibly safely report things that have happened. To name just one, another 27 year old man Yustinus Akabagaimu (son of the local school teacher Xaverius Akabagaimu) was beaten so mercilessly by the Indonesian Marines in 2013that he is no longer able to walk to this date.

A trustworthy source stated that the brutal treatment of local Papuan youth by the Marines usually occurs due to a citizen having made a report to the Military Post that a certain youth has done something wrong, following which the Marines immediately find and arrest the youth, beating them far beyond the limits of what is humanitarian.

To understand what’s really going on behind these regular incidents of unwarranted violence against citizens, once must question the very existence of a prime Indonesian Military post in Bade. It’s hardly needed for national defense reasons, as Bade is located on the edge of the Digul River. It’s not as if it’s a strategic location bordering with another nation or the like. So why should the second largest base for the Indonesian Marine Corps in the entire southern region of Papua be located on the edge of a river in Bade? The answer lies in the fact that the location enables the forces to demand ‘tribute’ from the nearby multinational plywood and oil-palm company Korindo (in Assiki) and also from a second company which has recently been opened at a location also close to Bade. In terms of Indonesian economics Bade is a key location for these companies as their products are shipped out only along the River Digul. There is not only an Indonesian Marine Corps Post at Bade but also a Police Post, a Regular Military Post (TNI), an Indonesian Army Shore Unit (TNI-AD).

The community leaders of the Papuan community of Bade in response to the frequent violence by the Marine Corps against the indigenous Papuan community, call on the Governor of Papua Lukas Enembe :

i) To immediately take stern disciplinary action against those members of the Marine Corps in Bade who have been unleashing brutal cruelty against the indigenous people of Bade.
ii) To close the Indonesian Marine Corps Post in Bade
iii) To carry out an investigation as to the reasons for the existence of the Marine Corps Post located at Bade on the banks of the Digul River.

Footnote :

Bade is located in the south of Papua in the district of Edera in the Mappi Regency which borders the region of Merauke.

Every religion teaches values of goodness and kindness and has teachings that are intended to create happiness and peace on this earth and in eternity. We hear so many people speak of the importance of peace, but the reality is that it’s not that simple to realise peace in our everyday lives. In the Papuan province of Indonesia it feels like peace is so far from becoming a reality for the indigenous people who live there.

Of late the Cenderawasih XVII Military Commander in West Papua has been coining the phrase “Peace is beautiful” and yet at the same time the Indonesian Armed Forces continue to be the number one culprit committing acts of violence and humanitarian atrocities against the indigenous people of Papua. Behind the mask of these sweet words the Armed Forces are clearly acting very much against the creation of peace in Papua.

Peace can be realised in a place when every person, every group, every faction, respects the rights of others; and this extends to nations and tribes. Where each is able to exercise their rights and at the same time fulfils their obligations towards others. It seems however in Papua that the realisation of peace is something that’s incredibly difficult to achieve, with the root cause of that being the lack of recognition of the very basic political rights of the people of Papua by all three Indonesia, the USA and the United Nations (UN).

(UN)involved in Papua’s desire for Peace; very involved in its atrocities (Photo: Public domain)

With the USA and UN’s active support throughout the entire process of annexation of Papua into Indonesia in the 1960’s, they indeed played a part in the actions of violence and atrocities against the indigenous people of Papua. They achieved their goal of making Papua into ‘the kitchen of the world’, opening it to the many international companies that have been stripping Papua of its rich natural resources ever since. It was not to end at the annexation of Papua, as they have continued these last more than 50 years to support Indonesia’s hold on Papua which in turn keeps the door open for exploitation of the land. There have been various forms of aid and in particular joint programs in security and defence, which of course are critical to Indonesia’s continued domination of Papua.

The Indonesian Armed Forces have by intention made Papua into a centre of conflict, but for what end? In so doing they create a situation where the indigenous people can be paralysed, can be annihilated and the world just keeps quiet, with Indonesia saying they are dealing with the conflict. The result? Papua remains permanently part of Indonesia and its natural resources can be exploited with ease by international parties.

Let’s not be fooled that the partnerships going on between Indonesia and other nations of the world in the areas of security and defence are aimed at peace building and protecting the people of the region as claimed. Nothing could be further from the truth! The reality is they have quite the opposite goal! The Indonesian Armed Forces are the main agents intentionally creating violence, bondage and theft of natural resources, discrimination, marginalisation, injustice, terror, intimidation and humanitarian atrocities against the indigenous peoples of the land of Papua. Their military and civilian operations both overt and covert are intended to slowly but surely annihilate ethnic Papuans.

The many forms of both visible and hidden violence and humanitarian atrocities undertaken by the state of Indonesia against indigenous Papuans are intended to stifle the political aspirations of Papuans for independence and at the same time annihilate the people. In the face of this continued violence against their people the indigenous peoples of Papua continue to express their opposition to the many human rights violations by peaceful and dignified means, primarily by means of peaceful demonstration. Yet even the narrowest space for a voice calling for democracy has been blocked by the Armed Forces in recent times, especially by the Provincial level of Indonesian Police. The Provincial Police are known for their practice of taking advantage of occasions when there are peaceful demonstrations to create conflict and to terrorise, torture, kill, arrest and imprison Papuans who struggle peacefully for change. Indonesia’s Armed Forces are constantly manipulating activities of the Struggle to create incidents of violence. Nevertheless Papuans continue to struggle peacefully in keeping with their decision at the 2000 2nd National Papuan Congress.

And so in the midst of all this, now it is Christmas. Where all parties in Papua hear of the message of ‘the coming of the King of Peace’. A message that reminds humanity that Jesus Christ came to bring peace to this earth. A message that starts to have real meaning only when entire communities of humans make space to allow for peace in their hearts. To that end let’s all prepare our hearts with simplicity, faithfulness, honesty and love for one another. We are each one of us reminded by the message of Christmas.

It is dearly hoped that the message of Christmas will also touch hearts and bring awareness to those who are committing the many forms of violence against indigenous Papuans. That there might be a commitment to bring an end to all forms of oppression towards indigenous Papuans and to enter into dialogue between Jakarta and Papua with a neutral facilitator. To reach that end we need to be ready and willing to humble our hearts, to be faithful, honest and to act in love. Only in that way can we bring peace to the land of Papua. We are all called to bring an end to the latent conflicts in Papua and to create peace, no matter who we are and wherever we may be.

Peace and joy at Christmas to all and throughout 2014!

Footnote:

1. The Dutch previously tried to prepare Papua to become an independent nation whilst still under their control, with those preparations reaching a peak on 1 December 1961. However less than a month later on 19 December 1961 Indonesia by a political and military invasion marked by what’s known as Trikora (a three prong command which demanded the dismantlement of the “puppet” Papuan state created by the Dutch; the raising of the Indonesian Red and White flag over Papua; and preparation for a general mobilisation in Papua) succeeded in annexing Papua into the Indonesian Republic.

Selpius Bobii is the General Chairperson of Front PEPERA & is a Papuan Freedom Political Detainee imprisoned in Abepura State Prison, Jayapura, Papua, for another Christmas.

1. The massacre followed a flag-raising led by Filep Karma, an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience

Filep Karma testified at the tribunal via prerecorded video since he is currently in prison. He told the tribunal: “In my oratory [at the flag-raising] I said that Papuans must fight peacefully.” “The flag appeared on the top of the tower on July 2, 1998, at about 5:00 a.m. Some seventy-five people gathered beneath it, shouting freedom slogans, singing songs and dancing traditional dances” (Human Rights Watch 1998: 6).

At 2:30 in the afternoon of July 2 “a joint police and military operation attempted to disperse the crowd at the base of the water tower. They launched canisters of tear gas into the crowd with no apparent effect. When a low-ranking police officer, a second-class sergeant, beat an elderly demonstrator named Thonci Wabiser, the crowd spontaneously retaliated, demolishing a truck belonging to Indonesian security forces” (Kirksey 2012: 44). A standoff ensued for days.

2. Local and regional officials were involved in the planning of the attack

Tineke Rumakabu testified that two officers of the Indonesian security forces were at the water tower on July 3rd. These commanders—namely Colonel Agus Hedyanto, who was Biak Military Commander (Dandim) and Colonel Johnny Rori, the Biak Police Commander (Kapolres)—negotiated with the crowd and asked that the flag be lowered. These same commanders were later involved in planning the attack. “At 1:00 a.m. on July 4, the local military brought nine village heads together to discuss a strategy for attack, and both the subdistrict head (camat) and the subdistrict military commander told the village heads that each man was responsible for bringing thirty men into the city.” (Human Rights Watch 1998: 8).

Octovianus Mote, former Bureau Chief of the Kompas daily newspaper, gave testimony based on his interviews of regional military and police commanders in July 1998. Major General Amir Sembiring, the Regional Military Commander (Pangdam Trikora), was in a direct command and control position during the attack. According to direct evidence tendered by Mr. Mote to the Tribunal, Sembiring “gave permission to conduct the attack.” Mr. Mote also corroborated reports that Colonel Agus Hedyanto, who was associated with the Special Forces and who served in East Timor, was the key local official involved in Biak. “This was a very well-organized military attack, you know police, navy, and armed forces. All of them organized the attacking of civilians,” continued Mr. Mote. Brigadier General Hotman Siagian, the Regional Police Commander (Kapolda IrJa), was quoted by Antara news agency as saying “the police had ‘tolerated’ the actions of the Biak group since July 2 and finally had to order a crackdown” on July 6th (Prakarsa 1998). Vice Admiral Freddy Numberi, who was then Governor and is currently Indonesia’s Minister of Transportation and Communications, described the victims a members of a “separatist movement that is headed towards treason” (Suara Pembaruan Daily, 8 July 1998). General Wiranto, Commander of Indonesia’s Armed Forces, told reporters when asked about the massacre: “If there is a power that raises a flag, and it is not the Red and White flag [of Indonesia], then this is a betrayal of the military and of the entire nation. This constitutes a betrayal and this is what we must stop!” (Suara Pembaruan Daily, 7 July 1998, punctuation in original).

3. Scores of unarmed civilians were killed, buried in mass graves, and dumped at sea

A video testimony, by a woman named “Sarah”, described how the security forces initially surrounded the protestors in a giant letter U. “The military and the police were lined up from the police compound around to the Inpress market. The mobile brigade police (Brimob) that had flown in from Ambon were stationed at the petrol station. Navy troops were down at the harbor.” She describes how they were all shooting, “from four directions,” including the sea.

One woman, who testified to the Tribunal on condition of anonymity, described the first moments of the attack at dawn on July 6th: “The army and police were everywhere. Bullets were raining down. The sky was on fire. We could hear them shooting people at the tower.”

Another witness, who testified under the pseudonym Raymond, described how he rushed to the water tower along with scores of other civilians as the shooting began. After watching as many women and men were gunned down, Raymond was herded with other survivors towards the harbor. He described how he was forced to stare at the sun, kneel in gravel for hours, along with dozens of others.

Sarah gave corroborating testimony: “My family and others were directed down to the harbor…We followed the other families with our hands up over our heads. You could feel the bullets starting to fly over our heads…I could see so many children who had been killed. They were shot on the wharf. They died right there.” Shortly after she arrived at the wharf, she overheard a Sergeant shouting out to the commander of a navy vessel: “Dock the ship! Dock the ship! Carry these people!” She also overheard the reply from the captain: “I cannot dock, the ship is full of bodies.” Sarah said that two ships then went out to sea. “They were there at the harbor in the morning, there to take the bodies away.” Later on “in front of the wharf a blue truck pulled up and took 28 bodies away,” Sarah said. “I was sitting and counting, silently. People who they had shot, they threw their bodies on the truck. Later another container truck came in and took more bodies away. We don’t know where they were taken.”

Ferry Marisan, Director of the human rights organization ELS-HAM Papua, investigated the killings in the weeks after the massacre and was a lead author of the subsequent report, “Names Without Graves, Graves Without Names.” Mr. Marisan described how a fisherman first encountered dead bodies in the sea, off shore of Biak, on July 10th, four days after the massacre: “The fishermen discovered four bodies floating, but these fishermen were scared to take the bodies on shore…The bodies were mutilated, some of them lost their legs or their genitals were not there. They were broken bodies. These bodies were found in the eastern part of Biak, but also in the western part of Biak people found other bodies.” Mr. Marisan also gave direct testimony about a body he helped recover: “Near Biak city, just around the park, we found a female body without a head and genitals that was badly bruised and broken, damaged. Another body we found was just a boy from junior high in his uniform. Most bodies we found were badly damaged. Either they lost their legs, the heads or their genitals.”

Raymond presented testimony about indiscriminate beatings by police at the harbor. He was taken with six truckloads of people to the regional police station (POLRES). Fourteen people were crammed with Raymond into a cell. Raymond was detained for two weeks and in the middle of the night guards routinely doused him with water during his detention.

Statements from Tineke Rumakabu, describe graphic scenes of sexual violence and torture after she was detained by Indonesian forces. Mrs. Rumakabu described how she was tossed into a yellow truck on the morning of July 6, on top of people who were already dead or seriously wounded. She was then taken to the military compound (KODIM). Mrs. Rumakabu showed the Tribunal scars on her arms and described what was done to her while she was blindfolded and cuffed: “They cut my arm with a sharp bayonet and then they poured acid. When I screamed they burnt me with cigarettes.”

The blindfold was later removed and she was stripped naked in a room with twelve other women and girls. “Then I saw a man [a soldier] showing me a little knife, the one that you use to shave, and he said ‘We are going to use this to cut off your vaginas, from above and below, and from the left to the right.’” “I saw a little girl and they raped her and she died,” Mrs. Rumakabu told the Tribunal. “All over the place it was blood everywhere because women, their vaginas and clitoris’ had been cut out, and they had been raped many, many times.” One of the women in detention, Marta Dimara was a friend of Mrs. Rumakabu. “Martha said, ‘I would rather be killed than you rape me.’ They put a bayonet in her neck and then her vagina and also cut off her breasts and beheaded her.” Mrs. Rumakabu told the Tribunal: “I was also tortured, a lit candle was penetrated inside me, they cut off my clitoris and they raped me.” Out of the twelve women in detention with her, she reported: “Eight women were killed and four of us stayed alive.”

5. Weaponry and equipment from international donors was used

At least two Navy ships were involved in the attack:

KRI Teluk Berau (534), Type 108. Source: Human Rights Watch Report, page 9 and corroborated by Eben Kirksey in a 2003 interview with an eyewitness. This ship belonged to the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and was manufactured in 1977 by VEB Peenewerft in Wolgast. It was purchased, along with 12 other units of the same type, by the Indonesian Navy and transferred on August 25th 1993. Formerly named the GDR Eberswalde-Finow (634), this ship was 90.7 meters long and weighed 1,900 tons. It was used as an amphibious landing ship by the Indonesian marines (Marinir TNI AL). The KRI Teluk Berau was armed with “a double barrel cannon with a caliber of 37 millimeters, a Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun and multipurpose autocannon, and two double barrel cannons with a caliber of 25 millimeters.” (Source: Koramatim 2012)[i]

The KRI Kakap-811 is a Fast Patrol Boat that was manufactured by PT. Pal Indonesia and has been in service since 1988. It is armed with a Bofors 40mm and 20mm anti-aircraft guns and multipurpose autocannons as well as 12.7 mm machine guns. This ship can carry one helicopter (Source: Koramatim 2013).

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